Workers, Shoppers Commute

Middle Peninsula Profile Unveiled

May 09, 1990|By TINA McCLOUD Staff Writer

It will come as no surprise to those who travel Route 17 during rush hour that Gloucester is a county of commuters, or that the rivers that define a way of life also hamper travel, or that there are relatively few places to shop north of the York River.

Those and other perceptions people have of the six counties that make up the Middle Peninsula are backed by statistics and charts in a new economic profile.

The study just was released by the Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.

Here's what the report has to say about other facets of life in Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex, King and Queen, King William and Essex counties:

* Commuting: I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go. Middle Peninsula workers who commute go primarily to Hampton Roads and Richmond, according to 1980 Census figures.

Most Middlesex and Essex workers have jobs in their home counties, but elsewhere most people find jobs other places, the report says.

For instance, only 44 percent of 8,308 Gloucester workers, or 3,655 people, had jobs in their home county in 1980. More than half commuted, most to Newport News.

The 1990 Census figures may show increased commuting to the Fredericksburg and Northern Virginia areas and greatly increased commuting from Gloucester and Mathews to Hampton Roads, the report says.

* Population: About 74,000 people lived here in 1988, compared with 59,987 in 1980, the report says.

The increase of 23 percent, or 14,013, is nearly twice the statewide percentage and three times the national.

Population growth varied throughout the Middle Peninsula.

Essex is among the slowest-growing localities in the state, while Gloucester has been the fastest-growing in this decade.

The Virginia Employment Commission predicts that only Spotsylvania County in the Fredericksburg area will grow faster than Gloucester through the year 2000.

Employment: Total employment on the Middle Peninsula grew from 21,151 in 1980 to 25,824 in 1987, the report says.

On average, that is 3.1 percent a year, slightly below the state's 3.5 percent but above that of most other planning districts in the state. Only Gloucester exceeded the statewide growth rate, at 5.1 percent.

Largest employer: Chesapeake Corp. in West Point, with more than 1,000 workers.

Second-largest employer: The Gloucester County school system, with more than 850 workers.

Largest sector of employment: Services, with nearly 6,000 jobs, or 23 percent of the jobs on the Middle Peninsula. The largest service employers are hospitals, but most of the jobs are in small facilities like lawyers' and doctors' offices and car-repair shops.

Second-largest sector: Retail trade, with about 4,500 jobs, or 17 percent of the total. Only three stores had as many as 100 workers; having 40 workers was more common. Groceries and restaurants accounted for nearly half of the retailing jobs.